Major ruling invalidating a Federal Reserve Board rule on debit card swipe fees

Go here to see the decision of Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. district court in D.C. Here's the first paragraph of the lengthy ruling:

Plaintiffs NACS (formerly, the National Association of Convenience Stores), National Retail Federation ("NRF"), Food Marketing Institute ("FMI"), Miller Oil Co., Inc. ("Miller"), Boscov's Department Store, LLC ("Boscov's) and National Restaurant Association ("NRA") (collectively, "plaintiffs") bring this action against the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("defendant" or "the Board") to overturn the Board's Final Rule setting standards for debit card interchange transaction fees ("interchange fees") and network exclusivity prohibitions. Before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment [Dkts. ##20, 23]. Upon consideration of the pleadings, oral argument, and the entire record therein, the Court concludes that the Board has clearly disregarded Congress's statutory intent by inappropriately inflating all debit card transaction fees by billions of dollars and failing to provide merchants with multiple unaffiliated networks for each debit card transaction. Accordingly, the plaintiffs' motion is GRANTED and defendant's motion is DENIED.

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